Saturday, March 31, 2007

... a beautiful phone, 5MP camera + GPS, actually surprisingly smaller than my Nokia 6630. Only issue I can see at the moment is that this little baby is RM 3600 (about $1300 AUS), so i guess I'll be waiting for a bit.

AS THE debate heats up about how to combat the environmental damage from a booming aviation market, some travellers are turning to a slower, greener way of seeing the world.

It has never been easier or cheaper to fly overseas, but the greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft are almost three times as damaging to the atmosphere as emissions generated by land and sea transport.

A young Sydneysider, Angela Baker, is one of a small but growing number of travellers eschewing the lure of discount air tickets.

"I felt an urgency about exploring the world before climate change damaged it," said Ms Baker, who was working for a non-government environment organisation before she left Sydney in January bound for Wales. "My mission is to travel as much as I can around the world without flying."

But in her quest to keep travel-related greenhouse gas pollution to a minimum, she also found that catching a slow boat to China - or, in her case, a cargo ship to Singapore - can be just as rewarding when arriving in a foreign land.

"The romance of sailing into a port cannot be beaten. It can be exciting to see a city for the first time from the air, but the first sight of land [from a ship] is fabulous," she said, talking to the Herald from South-East Asia. "You hear people say it is not about the destination, it is about the journey, and that is exactly right."

But a commitment to the environment takes time and money. Ms Baker's 12-day journey from Melbourne to Singapore on the cargo ship MV Baltrum Trader cost $1800, including meals.

From Singapore she went by train, bus and boat through Malaysia to Thailand and then into Laos. She hopes to reach Wales by November.

With a budget of $10,000 for 10 months, Baker has to plan her journey carefully. "It is hard to make ethical decisions all the time because of the time and money involved," she said.

Conscientious objectors to air travel started appearing in Britain 18 months ago. Among them was the founder of the Rough Guide travel books, Mark Ellingham, who pledged to limit his trips by plane, take his summer holiday in Britain and include a section on aviation's environmental damage in his guide books.

British travellers know they can cross the Channel and explore the Continent relatively easily and cheaply by train. But even for Australians there is a niche market in long-distance, low-key seafaring.

A travel adviser at Freighter Travel, Julie Richards, has been taking tourist bookings for berths on cargo ships for 20 years. There are usually only a couple of berths available on any voyage. The vessels are working ships without lifts, discos and the variety of entertainment cruise ships offer.

The most popular trip is a five-week journey to England via the Suez Canal. "People who enjoy the sea life, who don't need entertaining and don't want to be around 2000 other passengers, take these trips," she said.

Sugar fuel cell for mobile devices

Saint Louis University engineers have developed a fuel cell battery that can run on flat soda, maple syrup, or any other sugar source. Enzymes in the device convert sugar into electricity with water as the by-product. Researcher Shelley Minteer's prototype is the size of a postage stamp and powers a hand-held calculator. Apparently, the materials in the device are biodegradable. From Saint Louis University Media Relations:

Using sugar for fuel is not a new concept: Sugar in the form of glucose supplies the energy needs of all living things. While nature has figured out how to harness this energy efficiently, scientists only recently have learned how to unleash the energy-dense power of sugar to produce electricity, Minteer said...

The military is interested in using the sugar battery to charge portable electronic equipment on the battlefield and in emergency situations where access to electricity is limited. These devices include remote sensors for detecting biological and chemical weapons. Devices could be instantly recharged by adding virtually any convenient sugar source, including plant sap, Minteer said.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Strange Behaviour

Students behaved strangely

These were among the chilling words uttered by students hit by mass hysteria at SMK Seksyen 11 here on Tuesday.

Some of the students were said to have behaved in an eerie manner before they screamed and fainted.

K. Mohd Firdaus Mohd Shahid, 16, said several minutes before the incident, some of the students had become quiet, looked angry and stared coldly at other students.

"Suddenly, they started screaming and shouted those words. There were also other words which I could not understand."

He said the situation became worse when more students became hysterical.

"It kind of spread from one person to another," he said at his home yesterday.

The incident happened just before the school assembly.

Firdaus’s sister Nurzuriati, 15, was one of those affected by the hysteria.

She said she did not recall much as it had happened very fast.

"I only remember that some of my friends were behaving weirdly. I did not pay attention to them at first, but then they started screaming.

"Teachers were overwhelmed trying to control the situation and students helped to bring some of those who had fainted to the office.

"I don’t remember anything after that as I, too, fainted. When I woke up, I was in the office with the other students."

Their mother, Bariah Abdul Majid, said she knew about last Friday’s hysteria attack and claimed that the school did not take action to prevent a recurrence.She claimed that more than 100 boys and girls at the school became hysterical.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Well it only took 6 attempts, but my girlfriend and I finally got our acts together enough to go to the Butterfly Park.

Located near the Lake Gardens, the Butterfly Park is home to about 6000 butterflies from approx 12o different species. Don't ask me how many butterflies I think I saw, but I don't know, 6000 seems a bit high. it had been raining though, perhaps that's it. I certainly wouldn't want the job of the person who has to count them.

Anyway, besides the point... this place is a really sweet relaxing way to spend an hour or two. Besides the butterflies, there are many koi, turtles, gecko's, frogs, and various bugs and beetles to check out too. There's a lot of blurb on the net mentioning that it's free admission, it's not... entry cost us 15RM each.

The gift store attached to the park is actually quite interesting, with a wide range of framed specimens, bookmarks with butterflies sealed in them, paper weights with various bugs and beetles embedded inside.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

E A E AWhen I was a young boy my mama said to me, E A"There's only one girl in the world for you,E AShe probably lives in Tahiti." EI'd go the whole wide world, AI'd go the whole wide world just to find her.

E A E AOr maybe she's in the Bahamas where the Caribbean Sea is blue,E A E AWeeping in the tropical moonlit night 'cause nobody's talking about you. EI'd go the whole wide world, AI'd go the whole wide world just to find her. EI'd go the whole wide world, AI'd go the whole wide world to find out where they hide her. EI'd go the whole wide world, AI'd go the whole wide world just to find her.

I've been hanging around in the rain right here,Trying to pick up a girl,My eyes filling up with these lonely tearsWhen there's girls all over the world.

Is she lying on a tropical beach somewhereUnderneath a tropical sun?Pining a way in a heat wave there,hoping that I won't be long.

I should be lying on that sun swept beach with herCaressing her warm, brown skin.And then in a year or maybe not quiteWe'll be sharing the same next of kin.

I'd go the whole wide world,I'd go the whole wide world just to find her.I'd go the whole wide world,I'd go the whole wide world to find out where they hide her.I'd go the whole wide world,I'd go the whole wide world just to find her.I'd go the whole wide world,I'd go the whole wide world to find out where they hide her.Yeah!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

HE did not use a gun or a knife. Instead, a thief use the most unlikeliest weapon to rob a bank in Brussels - his personal charm.

In what may be the biggest robbery committed by one person, the conman burgled safety deposit boxes at an ABN Amro bank in Antwerp's diamond quarter, stealing diamonds worth Ã‚Â£pounds;14.5m ($42m), reported the Independent.

Posing as a successful businessman, the thief visited the bank frequently, befriending staff and gradually winning their confidence. He even brought them chocolates, according to one diamond industry official.

Now, embarrassed bank staff in Belgium's second city are wondering how they had been hoodwinked into giving a man with a false Argentine passport access to their vaults.

The prime suspect had been a regular customer at the bank for the past year, giving his name as Carlos Hector Flomenbaum from Argentina.

Although not familiar to the local diamond dealers, the conman became one of several trusted traders given an electronic card to access the bank vault. The heist, believed to have been more than a year in the planning, has astounded diamond dealers.

Mr Philip Claes, spokesman for the Diamond High Council in Antwerp said of the thief: 'He used no violence. He used one weapon - and that was his charm - to gain confidence. He bought chocolates for the personnel, he was a nice guy, he charmed them, got the original of keys to make copies and got information on where the diamonds were.

'You can have all the safety and security you want, but if someone uses their charm to mislead people it won't help.'

HIGH-TECH SECURITY SYSTEM

Mr Claes added that the area had been fitted with a security system costing more than US$1m ($2m). The lesson, he said, was that 'despite all the efforts one makes in investing in security, when a human error is made nothing can help'.

The authorities, who have offered a $4m reward for information leading to an arrest, now know that a passport in that name was stolen in Israel a few years ago.

More than half the world's diamonds are traded in Antwerp's gem district. The maze of streets around the city's central station generates a turnover of Ã‚Â£pounds;12 billion a year.

To serve this lucrative trade, banks have to accommodate clients who want to store diamonds overnight but withdraw them during the day. That means that special customers are given access to vaults.

The bank discovered the theft on 5 March, believing that someone took the stones that Monday morning or the previous Friday from five deposit boxes in a vault used by diamond cutters.

The authorities have not said why they waited for more than a week before making the theft public, nor have they said who had put up the reward money.

Antwerp is no stranger to diamond thefts. In 2003, thieves prised open 123 safety deposit boxes in the city, finding so much riches they could only carry away $200m worth of diamonds, gold and jewellery.

That robbery was masterminded by an Italian gang, all of whom are now behind bars. But the diamonds they stole are still missing.

He used no violence. He used one weapon - and that was his charm - to gain confidence. He bought chocolates for the personnel, he was a nice guy... you can have all the safety and security you want, but if someone uses their charm to mislead people it won't help.

Stephen & Alisha's weddingIt's been a whirlwind trip back in Sydney, as always, never enough time. Stephen & Alisha's wedding was last night.. what a fantastic time.

You know how some weddings are huge, lavish affairs that are very pretty, but you feel afterwards that there is just a little too flash and not quite enough substance? Well this was a wonderful, heartfelt night, with just the right amount of glamour and glitz. I heard a rumour a couple of days beforehand that I may be asked to give a speech, but that was confirmed the morning of the wedding as true. So I got up and spoke and it seemed to go down well. Hopefully I didn't bore the butts off everyone.

I would have included some of the many, many photos I took, but stupidly left my camera cable back in KL. I'll fix that as soon as I can.I'm sorry to have not been able to catch up with everyone in Sydney, but I guess that's always the case really.

I've been stocking up on all the *necessary bits and pieces to bring back also:

turkish delight chocolates x 7

bottle of bubble bath x 1 (gf is from KL & never had a bubblebath)

bath sponges x 2

squeeze bottles for my condensed milk x 2

caramel filled easter eggs x 12

Australian animal plush toys x 3

crystal deodorant x 1

hair ties x 5

packet pasta x 3

choc covered marshmallow balls

peanut butter M&M's

... these are either things that I just can't find easily in Kuala Lumpur, or gifts for friends back in KL. I'm looking forward to getting back there, I will miss the Sydney weather though :)All the best folks, I'll miss you, but we'll see each other again, I promise.

Big props to Brian, my previous housemate, who not only let me come back and stay in my old room, but also took a week off work to hang out with me, provided taxi service multiple times, and picked me up from the airport when I arrived in Sydney. Thanks mate. Above and beyond the call of duty.Stephen & Alisha's wedding

If the likes of the MPAA, RIAA and IFPI are to be believed, file-sharing is causing worldwide havok, costing billions of dollars and creating unemployment. It’s true that some people are feeling the P2P effect; they’re called ‘physical pirates’ and one of them says that file-sharing has ruined his business.

Tony started his life of piracy sometime in the 1990’s working markets, car-boot sales and pubs in the UK, selling counterfeit PC applications/games and console discs for a fraction of the retail price. “The profit was amazing back then” he recalls “We were getting £25 ($48) for a couple of PSX games and £15 ($29) for a single CDR with the latest utilities on. We couldn’t make them fast enough.”

Things were looking good for his little enterprise and before long he was clearing up to £1000 ($1,942) profit each week.According to Tony, the first 2 hours of every Saturday and Sunday morning at the local flea market always proved the most exciting. “We’d take 60 cases of CDRs down in the van and as soon as we got there a crowd would swarm around us. We had no competition and it was obvious the punters had no other suppliers. Inside 30 minutes, 90% of the stock would be gone with some customers taking 2 or 3 cases each, presumably to sell on. After 3 hours we were cleared out and on our way home, always with huge amounts of money.”

By 2001, Tony was renting a factory unit and employing 3 people to operate duplicators 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but although business was lively right up to 2004, profits were being squeezed every year. Forced to increase the amount of media burnt each week to make up for the shortfall in profit, it became clear that the business was in trouble - demand was falling dramatically.“In 2005 we shut down the factory unit” said Tony, “we just couldn’t keep going on that scale, nobody was buying anything in quantity anymore. So we closed up and moved back into a bedroom at home with my wife and her sister operating the burners, something they hadn’t done in years. They weren’t happy.”

Tony used to enjoy the finer things in life - a beautiful house, high performance cars, exotic foreign holidays, up-market restaurants and fine wine. I met him by chance, wearing overalls and sitting on a forklift truck, working in a factory manufacturing boxes. Sipping on a mug of tea he explained “We got to the point where we just couldn’t make ends meet anymore, I couldn’t even keep a couple of dozen burners going so that was that. I had to get a job and so did my wife. She’s gone back to hairdressing and i’ve come back to what I was doing before - warehouse work. We’ve moved to a smaller house and i’ve had to get a sensible car.

Things have changed quite a lot.”Tony is very clear about why his rags to riches story has gone back to rags again. “File-sharing, P2P - call it what you like. When you asked a customer why he wasn’t buying anything, 9 times out of 10 it was ‘BitTorrent this, LimeWire that’. Add that to the fact that huge numbers of PC users have burners and fast broadband and its obvious why I had to get out and earn a living another way. We had it good for a while but I don’t think those days are coming back.”

P2P is a very powerful machine and although Tony could see that his operation was feeling its effects, he admits that he sat back and did nothing about it and consequently, his business has paid the ultimate price. Other industries affected by P2P should take note: Don’t be a Tony. Overhaul your business model. Quickly.P2P File-Sharing Ruins Physical Piracy

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Went out for a couple of drinks last night with Chris' Milligan and Lepetit as Milligan has finished his stint in KL and flies back to Sydney later this week. We were at bar Ceylon, which is highly recommended if you haven't been there. I know I'll be there again. All the best Chris, hope to see you again soon mate.

I fly out to Sydney late tonight for my cousin's wedding. I'm slowly getting used to these night flights, I hope I can sleep a bit. Hehe, I'm getting used to this international travel, I've been doing it quite a bit in the last 6 months. I believe this is my 5th flight.

Anyway, yes the wedding... It's going to great to catch up with so much family again. I'm only going to be in Sydney for 6 days, so, as usual, it's going to be rush rush rush trying to see all the gang. The wedding in Saturday night, I'll certainly post some pics here and many more of course on my Flickr site.

"There has been little development of the toaster since the start of the century, whilst other appliances have developed and improved incorporating new technologies and thinking, toaster have remained relatively untouched. When the toaster was first invented eating toast was a social activity that took place on the breakfast table, these days toasters have been relegated to cheap plastic objects hidden away in the kitchen landscape. "

Well not anymore! my kitchen landscape sure could do with one of these. Would be the centre of attention for all those wild toast parties that I have.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

ok peoples, like you didn't know, Sunday was the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, and traditionally, this is Chinese Valentines Day. Us westerners really need to commandeer a few more of these Asian festivals, because they sure are celebrating ours.

Of course, they celebrate such a happening a little more differently that us qwai lo:Girls write their contact details on mandarin oranges and throw it into a river (or lake, or pond) and the guys go into the water to get them. Guys write their details on a banana and throw that into the water for the girls, but hey, the imagery is lost on me.

Anyway, everyone ends up splashing around in the dark looking for bananas and mandarins in the quest for love. There is a lot of laughter and music blaring... Sounds familiar? No, I didn't think so either.I had dinner for the first time with my gf's family on Sunday night. It was a bit nerve wracking, but I think it went well. They're really nice people, which helps, as you can imagine. We ate at a restaurant called 'The Unique Fisherman'. I quite sure I was the only whitey present.

I really need to practice my Cantonese more. I don't think my comprehension of one word every 50 words spoken is really going to be impressive long-term.

My girl and I spent the day together, but a fair percentage of that was spend studying (her: Taxation, me: asp.net). We did go for a swim though, which is significant as it's the first time we've swum together. Not that she can swim (quite normal here for people to not know how to swim... VERY unusual for Australia), but that's ok, as it just means I got to hold her up while she floated around.

Aaah, life is tough! Anyway, just thought I'd quickly drop by and post what I've up to. More soon.